Painting machine with transversely moving guns



Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY ET AL PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSELY MOVING GUNS '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 18, 1956 INVENTORS llll II PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSELY MOVING GUNS Filed Jun 18, 1956 Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY ETAL 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 o z o mmvrozzs BHE Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY ETAL 2,960,065

PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSELY MOVING GUNS Filed June 18, 1956 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS. ROBERT 5. WAY CARL 0. HERSEY BY Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY ETAL PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSELY MOVING GUNS Filed June 18, 1956 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 & BQ

ROBERT 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 R. B. WAY ETAL E R mo. wwm

Nov. 15, 1960 PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSEILY MOVING GUNS Filed June 18, 1956 i N h .31. Ski

CARL D. HERSEY Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY ETAL 2,960,065

PAINTING MACHINE wm-x TRANSVERSELY MOVING cums Filed June 18, 1956 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG. 6

IN VEN TORS ROBERT 5- WAY CARL D. HERSEY Nov. 15, 1960 R. B. WAY EI'AL 2,960,065

PAINTING MACHINE WITH TRANSVERSELY MOVING GUNS Filed June- 18, 1956 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 FIG. 7

INVENTORS ROBERT B. WAY CARL D. HERSEY BY PAINTING MACHKNE WITH TRANSVERSELY MUVING GUNS Filed June 18, 1956, Ser. No. 592,192

14 Claims. (Cl. 118315) This invention relates to automatic painting machines and more particularly to machines for spraying a coating of paint or other material onto predetermined areas of the surfaces of articles of manufacture.

In the spray painting of plastic articles and similar articles of manufacture wherein various designs are to be painted on predetermined areas of the articles with automatic machinery, it has long been a problem to prevent the fumes of paint being sprayed from building up on the paint guns, hoses, and the related apparatus, thus making the guns difiicul-t for the operators to handle.

The present invention proposes to provide a painting machine wherein the nozzles of the paint guns are located inside an enclosure and the guns themselves are located outside the enclosure. Air is drawn over the guns into the enclosure and out an exhaust system to further help keep the guns clean. The machine also incorporates a unique mechanism for moving the paint guns while they are spraying paint to cause the guns to deposit an even film of paint on the article.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide a paint machine which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and eflicient in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a painting machine wherein the paint guns therein are separated from the surface of an article being painted by a partition.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved ventilating system for a painting machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic painting machine wherein paint guns traverse in a linear path and the paint spray is shut off eachtime the guns reach the end of their strokes, the guns then inclining in the other direction and being turned on again.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved mechanism for moving paint guns in an automatic painting machine wherein the guns are balanced and rotated about a horizontal axis.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a separate compartment for containing the spray nozzles in a painting machine adjacent the articles being painted on one side of a partition and to have the spray guns themselves and related apparatus mounted on the other side of the partition.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a laterally movable carriage for carrying paint guns in a paint machine during the spraying operation.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a specific laterally oscillative paint gun carrying mechanism and paint gun mounted on one side of a partition with a paint gun nozzle extending through the partition to the other side thereof.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement '-of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in es Patent the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front isometric view of a paint machine having the cover removed from certain parts thereof for better clarity of disclosure of the inner working parts;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the machine according to the invention with parts of the cover broken away showing the paint guns extending through the partition;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the machine with parts of the cover removed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the paint gun according to the invention;

-Fig. 5 is a rear view of the operating mechanism of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the valves, motor, and piping of the machine;

'Fig. 7 is a front view of the machine with the covers removed;

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing how the paint guns are inclined relative to the work at the end of the stroke;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of the traverse mechanism taken on line 99 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 10 is an end View of the mechanism shown in Fig. 9.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, a machine is shown having a frame 10 with a cover 11 thereon. The machine has its operative parts supported on the frame 10.

Frame The frame 10 is made up of vertical corner leg members 40 welded to a base 41 at their lower ends 42 and to a top plate 43 at 44. The upright corner members 40 are restrained against lateral swaying by braces 45 welded to the base 41 at 46 and to the leg members 40 at 47. A horizontal plate 48 is supported between the legs 40 and attached thereto at the edges thereof. The horizontal plate 48 forms a support for the operating mechanism of the machine. Another plate 51 is welded to the corner members 40 at 52 and forms both a cover for the valves and operating devices supported on the plate 48 and an air tight floor for the paint chamber which is the enclosure between the top plate 43, a slotted partition plate 15,, and the sides of the machine.

The sides of the machine preferably include the members 51, 52, 53, and 54. An inspection cover 55 is attached at 56 and houses the paint guns.

The gun carriage is made up of a gun support 26 which is attached to frame 10 having a lower block 27 slidably supported on a track 28 and an upper block 27a slidably supported on a track 23a. The gun support 26 has paint guns 21 supported thereon as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The paint guns 21 are supported in a ball joint 58 which is mounted in a complementary socket joint on the support 26. Actuating air and atomizing air as well as paint are supplied to the guns 21 through hoses 23, 24, and 25. The round rod like tracks 28 and 28a are attached to the members 40 at 59, forming ways for carrying the blocks 27 and 27a with the support 26 thereon backward and forward. The hoses 23, 24, and 25 are fixed to the upright support '26 at 60 and hang down loosely in portions 61, 62, and

The support 26 has a vertical slot 64 which has a roller bearing 67 vertically slidable therein and the roller bearing 67 is attached to a roller chain 68. Therefore, as the .chain 68 is rotated and passes around sprockets 69 and 70, pulling the blocks 27 and 27a horizontally and a plate 63a on the vertical support member 26 along the tracks 28 and 28a, and when the length of the chain link to which the roller 67 is attached reaches the end of the top portion of the travel of the chain 68, it moves down with the chain 68 around the sprocket, sliding an axle 167 downward in a slot 300, then moving the chain link 68 and the roller 67 along the bottom portion of the path of travel of the chain 68 and then up and around the other sprocket.

The paint guns 21 are supported on a bracket 29. A tube 13 having a nozzle 12 thereon extends inwardly into the painting chamber through slots 14 formed in the plate 15. The nozzle 12 and the tube 13 extending inwardly counterbalance the weight of the guns 21. The entire vertical support 26, the brackets 29, the blocks 27 and 27a, and some of the other mechanism which is moved on the tracks 28 and 28a are made of aluminum or other light material in order that the mass of the moving parts is less and, therefore, makes it possible to move the device faster and without undue vibration.

An operating arm 164 is U-shaped and one end thereof is attached to a link 72. The other end of the arm 164 is attached to the axle 167. The blocks 27 and 27a are supported between a plate 326 and the support 26. The link 72 is attached to a pivot pin 73 on the operating arm 164 at the upper end of a leg 164a thereof. The upper end of the link 72 is attached to a rocker arm 74 which is pivoted to the vertical support 26 at 75. The arm 74 has a rod 76 attached to its other end. The upper end of the rod 76 is pivoted to a bracket 77 attached to the paint gun brackets 29 which have slots 30 therein. The slots 30 receive bolts having nuts 31 thereon which may be loosened to adjust the position of the paint guns 21 on the brackets 29.

Clamping mechanism The top plate 43 has the cover or opening 11 therethrough which is rectangular in shape and is adapted to receive a frame supporting a paint mask or stencil, the details of which will be well known to persons skilled in the art and which is essentially a counterpart of the article to be painted with openings therethrough to allow paint from the nozzle 12 to pass and engage the article to be painted.

The counterpart of the mask is adapted to be supported in the opening 11 and an article of manufacture to be painted will be held in clamped position in the counterpart by a part engaging member supported on a piston rod 18 which has a piston operating in a cylinder 17. The cylinder 17 is connected by a pipe 19 to an air supply in the air circuit of the machine. The cylinder 17 is supported by means of a bracket 71 on a support 72a which is laterally slidable on a channel member 73a. The channel 73a is fixed to the plate 43. The support 72a may have a suitable clamping mechanism for clamping it in laterally adjustable position on the channel member 73a. The cylinder 17 is clamped to the bracket 71 by means of a clamping plate 74a which clamps the cylinder 17 between the bracket 71 and the plate 74a by means of bolts 75a. Therefore, when air under pressure is a1- lowed to enter through the pipe 19, it will drive the piston having the piston rod 18 attached thereto and the cylinder 17 down against the part to hold it in the mask in locked position.

Air circuit The air circuit is made up of an air supply which operates an air motor 106 which is attached through a member 80 which has a shaft 81 attached to the sprocket 70 to drive the chain 68. The air motor 106 runs continuously at a constant speed as long as air pressure is applied to the circuit. The clamp cylinder 17 is actuated by the air from a valve 101. The valve 101 has a pilot member 152 which is actuated from air through a timer valve 100. The valve has a pilot controlled by air through a cam operated valve 103. The cam operated pilot valve 103 receives air through a double pilot valve 104 which is initiated by a foot control pedal 120 and which can be turned on and turned off by air from a pipe 118a which receives air from a cam operated valve 102.

A cam 137 of the valve 102 and a cam 136 of the valve 103 have followers actuated by a cam 91 shown in Figs. 3 and 6 and driven at a constant rate through a sprocket 92 and a chain 93 which is in turn driven by a sprocket 180 on the reducer 80. The sprockets 180 and 92 are so proportioned in size that they rotate the cams 134 and 135 one hundred eighty degrees for each half revolution of the chain 68.

Operating mechanism A rear view of the main operational components is shown in Fig. 5. The main components are the timer valve 100, the normally closed pilot operated valve 101, the normally open cam operated valves 102 and 103, and the double pilot controlled valve 104.

The sprockets 70 and 92, as aforesaid, are driven through the reducer 80 by the motor 106. The motor 106 receives air from a supply source 107 through a filter 108 and an oiler 109 which supplies air at line pressure through a pipe 110 to pipes 111, 112, and 113. The pipe 111 communicates through a throttle valve 114 controlled by a handle 115 which supplies air through a pipe 116 to the motor 106. The air from the motor 106 is discharged through a pipe 117 and through a mufiler 118.

A pilot piston 119 of the double pilot operated valve 104 is urged to the position shown by air from pipe 118a when the valves 100 and 102 are open. This tends to drive the piston 119 to the position shown and, therefore, shuts off the flow of air from the pipes 113 and 114a which supply air at line pressure to the pilot piston of the timer valve 100 when the valve 103 is open. The foot control switch 120 has a valve member 121 which normally closes a passage 122 therethrough to prevent air from flowing from the pipe 113 through a pipe 123 to a pipe 124 and thence to a space 125 in the pilot valve 104 to drive the pilot to a position which will line up an orifice 126 with orifices 127 and 128 and allow air to flow from the pipe 114a to a pipe 129.

The cam controlled valve 103 has a valve member 131 which is normally open when not actuated by a cam and 011 a valve seat 132 to allow air to flow from the pipe 129 to a pipe 133. When the support member 26 is at either end of travel of its horizontal path, the cams 134 or 135 will be in contact with follower members 136 or 137 and, therefore, the valve member 131 will be on the seat 132 and a valve member 138 will be resting on a seat 139. Air will be stopped from flowing from the pipe 129 to the pipe 133 and from a pipe 140 to a pipe 141.

When the double pilot valve 104 and the valve 103 are open, air flows from the pipe 113 through the valve 104 and through the valve 103 through the pipe 133, through a check valve 144 into a chamber 145, and will drive a piston 146 down to move a valve member 147 off of a seat 148 and allow air to flow from the pipe 112 to the pipe 140. As soon as the flow of air through the pipe 133 is interrupted by air from the pipe 140 forcing the pilot piston 119 to the position shown, the air pressure in the chamber will begin to bleed out through a bleed valve 149 and the piston 146 will be urged up by a spring 170. Also, the valve member 147 will be closed, interrupting the flow of air from the pipe 112 to the pipe 140. Air at line pressure, when the valve 100 is open, will flow through a pipe 151 and move the pilot piston 152 against a spring 171 to a valve member 153 oif of a seat 154, allowing air to flow from a pipe 155 to a pipe 156 and through a flow control 157 to a clamping cylinder 1180, thereby clamping an article to be painted in the device.

Exhaust system The machine disclosed herein has an exhaust system made up of an exhaust blower connected to an opening in the back cover of the machine. Air is, therefore, drawn into a grating 160 up through the slots 14 and out through the exhaust system. Therefore, since clean air is constantly being drawn into the painting chamber through the slots 14, any paint fumes will be restrained from passing out of the slots 14.

Operation When it is desired to paint an article of manufacture, a suitable mask mounted in a frame is selected and the frame is mounted in the opening 11. The bracket 71 is adjusted for proper vertical positioning of the cylinder 17 and the support 72a is adjusted horizontally in the channel 73a. The paint gun nozzles 12 are then adjusted for the proper position relative to the bottom of the mask to project the paint through the openings in the mask on the article in a uniform manner. The length of the support 72a is adjusted to properly position and move the guns 21. Air is then turned on to the pipe 107 and is applied through a pipe 164b to put pressure on the atomizing mechanism of the paint guns 21. The air to the paint pressure tank is also applied and the motor 106 will begin running. The handle 115 controlling the valve 114 can be adjusted to adjust the motor speed. Therefore, the motor 106 will begin to rotate its shaft and drive the sprockets 69, 70, 92, and 180 through the chains 68 and 93 and cause the support 26 to traverse from right to left and the roller 67 attached to the chain 68 to move horizontally up and down as it passes around the ends of the sprockets 69 and 70. The guns 21 will rotate to point the nozzles 12 toward the work on one direction of travel. Then when it comes to the end of this direction of travel, the cam surfaces 134 and 135 will be in engagement with the followers 136 and 137 and will shut off the paint gun 21 at the end of each horizontal channel while the guns 21 are being rotated to bring the nozzles 12 to incline in the other direction.

The operator will then put an article to be painted in the mask and actuate the foot switch 120 to open the valve 121 thereof and allow air to flow through the pipe 123 through the pipe 124 through the pilot member 125, thereby driving the pilot piston 119 to the left and aligning the orifice 126 with the orifices 127 and 128, thus allowing air to flow at line pressure through the pipe 114 to the pipe 129. Then if the chain has moved the support 26 to one extreme end of its stroke, the machine will not operate until the cams 134 and 135 have moved oif of the followers 136 and 137 to prevent paint from spraying on the work during the start of the cycle.

After the horizontal support 26 has been moved by the chain away from the end of its stroke, the cam 135 will move off of the follower 136 and allow air to flow from the pipe 129 through the valve seat 132 to the pipe 133, thereby actuating the timer valve piston 1'46 and opening the timer valve member 147 to allow air to flow from the pipe 112 to the pipe 151. This will actuate the pilot piston 152 of the valve 102 and allow air to flow from the pipe 155 to the pipe 156 into the cylinder 17 of the clamp, thereby driving the piston rod 18 down to clamp the work in the mask. At the same time, air will be blowing through the pipe 140 and if the gun support 26 is not at one end or the other of its stroke, the cam 134 will be out of engagement with the cam follower 137 and air will be flowing from the pipe 140 past the valve seat 139 to the pipe 141 to actuate the guns 21 through a pipe 163.

As soon as air flows through the valve 102 to the valve seat 139 thereof, the pipe 141 will allow air to flow through the pipe 118a and drive the pilot piston 119 to the position shown, thereby stopping the flow of air from the pipe 1140 through the pipe 129 to the pipe 133 and stopping the flow of air through the check valve 144 to the chamber 145. Therefore, at this time, the air in the chamber 145 Will begin to bleed out of the bleed orifice 149. The bleed orifice 149 will be adjusted by a valve handle 166. As the air pressure in the chamber 145 reduces, the spring piston 146 will begin to return to its original position and the valve 147 will close the orifice member 148. When the predetermined time set by the valve member 166 has elapsed, the piston 146 will be moved by the spring 170 to its normal position and the valve 147 will close the orifice 148 and stop the flow of air from the pipe 112 to the pipe 140, thereby allowing air pressure on the piston 152 to decrease and the spring 171 to urge the valve 101 to close and stopping the flow of air from the pipe 155 to the pipe 156, thus releasing the pressure on the piston in the cylinder 17 and causing the piston rod 18 to retract, unclamping the work. At the same time, the actuating air pressure through the pipe 163 will be reduced and the guns 21 will stop spraying paint.

The purpose of the valve 103 is to prevent the paint guns 21 from being actuated by air therethrough through the pipe 133, timer valve 100, and valve 102 when the guns 21 are between one or the other extreme end of their stroke. That is, the guns 21 are prevented from starting to spray when they are at an intermediate position. The purpose of the valve 102 is to stop the guns 21 from spraying paint at the end of each horizontal travel so the guns 21 will not be spraying while they are being reversed. It will be noted that the guns 21 are rotated so that the direction of the nozzle 12 will be reversed by means of the block which slides up and down in the slot 64 and exerts a force on the support rod 72a and, in .turn, actuates the rod 76 to rotate the gun 21 to point the nozzle 12 back toward the work at each end of its horizontal travel. The gun bracket 29 has the ball joint 58 thereon which rotates in a socket member a.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic view of the mask having the article to be painted thereon. The guns '21 are shown position A at one extreme end of their path of travel and in position B at the other end of their path of travel. The nozzles v12 incline in the direction of travel and to the right at 12a while the guns 21 are carried from position A .to position B. When the guns 21 which are carried by the upright support 26 reach the end of their lateral travel, the cam closes the valve 102 and stops the guns 21 from spraying' while the follow-er roller moves around the end of the sprocket 69 or 70. The movement of the roller 67 from the path above the sprocket around the end thereof to the path below puts a tensile force on the link 72 which rotates the guns 21 in their ball joint 53 and, therefore, inclines the nozzle 12 from the position 12a to position 1212. This positioning of the paint gun 21 is similar to the position a paint gun is held by a painter in manual painting. That is, the painter always tries to have the nozzle of his paint gun inclined in the direction in which he is moving the gun while spraying.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A painting machine comprising a frame, a vertically disposed wall on said frame, means supporting a paint gun on said frame on one side of said Wall, a relatively narrow slot in said frame, a nozzle on the side of said wall remote from said gun and disposed a substantial distance from said gun, a tube extending through said slot and connecting said nozzle to said gun, means on said machine adjacent said nozzle for supporting an article to be painted, and means on said machine to move said nozzle relative to said supporting means for said article.

2. The machine recited in claim 1 wherein means is provided to move said paint gun, said paint gun moving means moving said gun longitudinally along said wall, said tube moving therewith in said slot, and said nozzle moving generally in a path parallel to said wall.

3. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein means is provided to draw air from the side of said wall adjacent to said gun, through said slot to the side of said wall on which said nozzle is disposed.

4. A painting machine comprising a frame, an enclosure on said frame, a paint gun supported on said frame outside said enclosure, said enclosure having a vertical wall, means to support an article of manufacture on said frame, a nozzle inside said enclosure, a slot in said vertical wall of said enclosure, a tube extending through said slot and connecting said paint gun to said nozzle, means to move said gun in a linear path in reciprocating motion and to move said tube in said slot, and means to rotate said gun and said nozzle at the end of each said reciprocating movement of said gun.

5. The machine recited in claim 4 wherein means is provided to shut off said gun at the end of travel of each reciprocation whereby said gun is shut oif while said gun is being reversed.

6. The machine recited in claim 5 wherein means is provided to draw clean air through said slot over said gun and into said enclosure.

7. The machine recited in claim 6 wherein said means to move said gun comprises a support mounted on said frame for reciprocatory movement thereon, a continuous chain, said support being attached to one link of said chain, said support being moved in a first direction when said link moves in said first direction and said support being moved in a second direction when said chain moves around sprockets supporting it and in said second direction.

8. The machine recited in claim 7 wherein said support is attached to said chain link by means of a roller attached to said support for sliding movement perpendicul-ar to the path of travel of said support thereon, and a link attached to said roller and to a member on said paint gun whereby said paint gun is rotated in one direction when said roller follows said chain around a sprocket at one end of its travel and said gun is rotated in another direction when said link of said chain passes around the other said sprocket whereby said link rotates said gun in another direction.

9. The machine recited in claim 7 wherein said paint gun is supported on said support by means of a ball and socket joint whereby said paint gun may be selectively moved in a plurality of directions, thereby moving said nozzle in a plurality of directions relative to said support means.

10. The machine recited in claim 9 wherein timer means is connected to said machine, said timer means having adjustable means thereon controlling the number of said gun reciprocations back and forth relative to said support means for each actuation of said machine.

'11. A painting machine comprising a frame, a pair of spaced sprockets supported on said frame, a support having a paint gun thereon, means to carry said support for reciprocatory movement thereof on said frame in a direction parallel to a line through the axles of said sprockets, a member on said support and movable thereon perpendicular to the path of reciprocatory movement thereof, said member being attached to a link of a chain and movable therewith, said paint gun being supported on said support by means of a ball and socket joint, said frame adapted to support an article of manufacture, a vertical wall on said machine, -a slot in said wall, a nozzle spaced from said gun on the opposite side of said wall from said gun, a tube extending through said slot in said wall and operatively connecting said gun to said nozzle, and means to incline said nozzle to direct a spray of paint onto an article adapted to be supported on said machine in the direction said gun is travelling, said gun being connected to said member attached to said chain link whereby said gun is rotated by said member as it moves around each said sprocket whereby the direction said nozzle directs paint is changed to incline in the direction said gun moves as the direction of movement of said gun is reversed by said chain.

12. The machine recited in claim 11 wherein means is provided to draw air through said slot in said wall over said gun toward said article.-

13. The machine recited in claim 12 wherein means is provided to prevent said paint gun from starting to spray when said gun is intermediate the end of its reciprocatory movement.

14. A painting machine comprising a frame, a vertically disposed wall on said frame, means supporting paint guns on said frame on one side of said wall, two spaced parallel, relatively narrow slots in said frame, nozzles on the side of said wall remote from said guns and disposed a substantial distance from said guns, tubes extending through said slots and connecting said nozzles to said guns, means on said machine adjacent said nozzles for supporting an article to be painted, and means on said machine to move said nozzles relative to said supporting means for said article.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,812,854 Beach July 7, 1931 2,246,502 Bramsen et a1. June 24, 1941 2,369,424 Barlow Feb. 13, 1945 2,610,605 Paasche Sept. 16, 1952 2,695,592 Szczepanski Nov. 30, 1954 2,728,322 Szczepanski Dec. 27, 1955 

